In response to transactions that appear to have breached US sanctions on Iran, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has now agreed to settle with the Department of the Treasury.
As a result, the enormous cryptocurrency platform has agreed to pay more than $360,000. The Department of Treasury and the crypto exchange have finally reached a settlement.
Crypto Exchange Kraken Settlement
As a result of alleged Iranian sanctions violations, Kraken has agreed to pay a staggering $362,000. It’s important to note that Kraken, like all other cryptocurrency exchanges, gives customers the option to buy, sell, trade, or hold any of the digital assets featured on the platform.
However, the settlement document discloses that hundreds of transactions totaling a whopping $1.68 million came from individuals who were based in Iran.
The crypto service really forbids new users from signing up in regions covered by US sanctions, as The Verge points out in its piece. It appears that the platform does, in fact, adhere to the penalty program in some way. However, this is where they ran into difficulties.
The Department of Treasury claims that when users are using the cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken does not employ IP address blocking. Therefore, it appears that customers who first registered in the US might continue to trade or acquire digital assets even after transferring to Iran.
Based on Kraken users’ IP addresses, the Treasury Department discovered that certain users had engaged in such behavior. Some people did register in the US and continue their transactions there.
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US Sanction Against Iran
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Potential wrongdoings by the bitcoin exchange were described by the Treasury Department. The US agency claims that Kraken exported services to users who appeared to be in Iran when they carried out virtual currency transactions on Kraken’s platform because Kraken failed to promptly implement appropriate geolocation tools, including an automated internet protocol (IP) address blocking system.
Macro Santori, the Kraken’s chief legal officer, spoke to Decrypt in the interim. The CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange declares that it is pleased to have rectified this situation, which we identified, freely self-reported, and immediately corrected.
The transactions in Iran are reportedly valued at about $1.6 million, according to the Treasury Department. The dates of these events are October 14, 2015, through June 29, 2019.